Probation dropped for child, 10, who urinated behind car

A public urination charge was dropped against Quantavious Eason, 10, center, after his mother, Latonya Eason, right, rejected terms of probation that she said would have forced the boy to be unfairly and unduly treated like an adult criminal (Photo provided by attorney Carlos Moore, left).

A Black child who relieved himself behind the cover of his mother’s car in a small Mississippi town last summer — and was then arrested for it — will not be sentenced to serve probation after his mother fought back, rejecting terms she said would have unfairly designated her young son as a criminal.

Quantavious Eason, 10, as Law&Crime reported in December, was arrested on Aug. 10 in Sentobia — a town of fewer than 10,000 people — after an officer saw him urinating behind the door of his mother’s parked car, which was parked outside of an attorney’s office. The officer did not handcuff the boy but did place him in a police vehicle and then later, a cell.

When she was interviewed last year, Eason’s mother said it was unconscionable that her child was arrested, let alone ordered to serve probation for doing what “the average child” and “probably some grown men” would have done outside in an emergency. The family’s attorney, Carlos Moore, said the child saw a sign outside stating there were no public restrooms and made the innocent decision.

The child was ordered by Tate County Youth Court Judge Rusty Harlow Jr., to serve a term of three months probation, which was to include drug testing at the probation officer’s discretion as well as weapons prohibitions. Harlow also ordered the boy to write a book report on late NBA star Kobe Bryant as a penalty.

Eason’s mother refused to sign the probation document when she learned of the conditions the judge ordered.